>> casey did not murder caylee. it's that simple. >> casey anthony found not guilty and could be a free woman as soon as tomorrow. hear what an alternate juror is saying about how the jury reached its decision. the failing grade for metro. it will be a long hot summer for commuters. the constant problem that isn't going to be fixed any time soon. good morning and thanks for joining us for "news 4 today." i'm eun yang. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs on this wednesday, the 6th day of july. looking outside, you can see the sun trying to bore through those clouds in mist and haze out there this morning. 75 degrees. going to be a hot one. here's tom. >> that's for sure. >> that is a live picture of the painting at the national gallery of art. think it's a degas? >> turner maybe. >> gorgeous landscape painting of the eastern sky. it is actually a live picture from our skywatcher camera.

right now the radar scanning the sky. we are seeing a few little blobs of blue and green there showing up in the central shenandoah valley. those are a few scattered light showers in the central shenandoah valley, and then on the eastern side of the blue ridge, right there on the madison and green county line they're getting a shower drifting north. those are beginning to contract a little to the north-northeast, and temperatures around the region in the low and mid-70s most areas. 77 steamy degrees in washington. we've got the thick haze and humidity with us. it's going to be with us here throughout the day and for the next several days. so get used to it. there's the sunrise from upper northwest washington and northeast washington in the distance. prince george's county in the horizon. but noontime, upper 80s, partly sunny. hot and humid this afternoon, hovering around 90. could get some storms. a look at the night planner at 6:11. danella, how's traffic? we are seeing congestion on 95 in virginia as you make your way out of the occoquan and head

towards the beltway, going to be stop and go for you. going to give you a live look. 95 at fairfax county parkway, you can see the lanes are packed. so pack your patience as well as your sunglasses as you make your commute this morning. i want to also show you 270 at montrose. again, 270 as you're heading south, making your way out of urbana, it's pretty thick for you. once you get to clarksburg, you see some relief. as you see here at montrose, it is very clear. your lanes are open. no delays. metro, marc, and vre still looking good. eun, back to you. today could be casey anthony's last full day in jail. that's her holding back tears as the court clerk read the not guilty verdict on murder and child abuse charges in the death of her daughter caylee. nbc's kristen dahlgren joins us now live in orlando with more on the surprise acquittal, to some. kristen, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. casey anthony was only found guilty on four misdemeanor counts of making false statements to police. she'll be sentenced on those

counts tomorrow. but with time served, she could soon be a free woman after what some are calling the most controversial verdict since o.j. simpson. apparently, we're having trouble with that tape. the jury took less than 11 hours to make the decision on all of those counts. again, not guilty on the three most serious charges related to the death of her 2-year-old daughter caylee. caylee disappeared in 2008. we did hear, not from any of the jurors who deliberated. they decided not to speak to the media. but one of the alternates who sat in through this more than month of testimony said that they just didn't hear enough from the prosecution about

exactly what happened to caylee. remember, the child's body was found at least six months after she disappeared, and so there wasn't any evidence other than circumstantial evidence presented in the courtroom. the jury made a quick decision. there was outrage outside the courthouse. people gathered as the verdict was being read. some shouted. they moaned. a lot of people not understanding after watching this. it was wall to wall coverage on tv, as you remember. so many people watched this every single day and were outraged with the verdict. again, casey anthony found not guilty on those most serious charges. >> what about casey anthony's parents? are they saying anything about the verdict? >> reporter: yeah. they didn't speak to reporters after they left the courthouse, but they did release a statement yesterday, and they said in

part, quote, despite casey anthony's decision to accuse them, they said they do believe that the jury reached a fair decision based on the information and the evidence that was given in court. they then asked for their privacy. >> kristen dahlgren live in orlando for us this morning. kristen, thanks so much. 6:05 is the time. today president obama will hold the first of its kind twitter town hall. he'll begin answering questions at 2:00 this afternoon. the town hall will focus on jobs and the economy. you can send the president a tweet to @town hall, using the hash tag, the pound sign, ask obama. his answers will not be limited to twitter's 140 characters. president obama has also summoned leaders of both parties to the white house tomorrow on further talks on the debt showdown. he's pushing congress to reach a deal within two weeks on reaching the nation's borrowing limit well before the august 2nd

deadline. the president opposes a sharp short increase in the debt ceiling. metro escalators are getting worse. that's no surprise to riders who use the metro regularly. melissa mollet is live at the foggy bottom metro station with more on these continuing problems. melissa, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, eun. this escalator i'm on at foggy bottom right now is one of only three escalators working here at foggy bottom this morning. all of them were supposed to be operational by the end of june. obviously, already about a week late. let's take a look at this latest report that is going to be presented to metro's board of directors tomorrow. they say in the month of may more than 100 of the system's 588 escalators were not operational. they were indeed not working. this monthly report looks at things like weather, metro

service is improving, whether it's deteriorating or remaining steady. it will be presented, as i mentioned, to the system's board of directors on thursday. performance also worsening in other categoriecategories, bus on time performance and customer injury rate, which is up slightly. the number of inspections completed, up 8% over april. we have been speaking with riders out here this morning. most of them saying, you know what, these repairs, they need to be done. >> they try to fix it. still the same problem. nothing works. they try their best. >> reporter: frustrating for you? >> sometimes. i have bad knees. this is too long for me. >> reporter: if you'd like to take a look at the full report, 36 pages long, you can find a link on our website at nbcwashington.com. live in northwest washington, melissa mollet, news 4. eun, back to you. today a loudoun county board

of supervisors will consider a compromise for a new station on the dulles metro rail project. transportation secretary ray lahood came up with the compromise after loudoun officials threatened to pull support for the pro swrekt. they were outraged over the proposal to build an underground station at dulles international, a much more expensive option. the proposal calls for an above ground station and a smaller rail yard at the airport in order to save nearly $1 billion. 6:08 is the time. 75 degrees right now. the bizarre break in prince william county. what police found a man doing outside a business in woodbridge.

6:11 on this wednesday morning, the 6th of july. thick haze and humidity over arlington in the distance. live picture from the skywatcher camera. we'll be into the 80s midmorning and hover near 90 during the afternoon. quite a bit of cloudiness, summer haze. late afternoon, early evening,

could get passing thunderstorms. slight risk they would be severe, and mainly just south of washington, perhaps in virginia and southern maryland. any storms around should dissipate by late evening and partly cloudy after that and remaining humid. a humid pattern toward the end of the week and weekend. danella, how's traffic? right now i'm looking at an incident in southeast d.c. northbound minnesota avenue at pennsylvania avenue. you can see a tow truck is blocking your right lane for this disabled vehicle. traveling in southeast, be careful as you make your commute. i want to show you this, 66. this is eastbound, the headlights coming towards us. volume eastbound but nothing significant. your lanes are open. and i want to show you the american legion bridge as well. we are seeing traffic increase there. you're still traveling at a good speed. metro, vre looking good. i have a minor delay on the brunswick east line on the marc, trains 872 and 890 both have a delay of six minutes. 6:12 now. 76 degrees. why there will be a media circus

outside of the federal court here in the district.

welcome back. police are hoping a new website will lead them to the killer in a georgetown cold case. it will seek information in the 1998 murder of christine mirzayan. she was sexually assaulted and beaten to death on her way back to her dorm at georgetown university. police used her dna to connect her to a series of rapes in montgomery county in the early 90s. they hope by posting a composite of the killer, they'll have similar success to hunting east coast rapist. what some are calling police harassment in prince george's county. the move follows increasing patrols in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations. casa demaryland, one of the largest latino organizations is leading the effort. the group is training people to be monitors and record complaints against police. police are looking for those

responsible for stealing from people at church during sunday service. members of at least three churches in vienna had their purses or wallets taken. most left their purses unattended inside locked rooms in the churches. police aren't sure how the thefts are related. police say they caught someone who broke into a sex shop in woodbridge in prince william county. that's according to insidenova.com. this happened at the mvc late night adult store on jefferson highway. prosecutors say they found 20-year-old justin little gym in the closet with a blow-up doll. he's facing several charges, including burglary. today in boston, former reputed mob boss james "whitey" bulger is expected to be in court. he's expected to enter a plea on 19 counts of murder. authorities tracked down bulger last month in california after escaping prosecution for 19 yea years. prosecutors say the 81-year-old

used to head boston's notorious winter hill gang and committed the murders to eliminate rivals or potential witnesses. jury selection will begin in the trial of former yankees pitcher roger clemens. it is alleged that clemens lied to congress about using performance enhancing drugs during his 23-year career. some teammates claim that trainer brian mcnamie gave several on the teamster eyed injections. right now pyeongchang is considered to be the early front-runner for the winter olympics in 2018, having tried twice before to host the olympics. and they've already built their first venue, a ski jump called alpencia. munich, germany, and annecy, france, made their pitches this morning. munich would be the first to host a summer and winter olympics. don't forget, whoever gets the

olympics, you'll be able to watch them right here on nbc. nfl players and owners will meet again today, and an announcement from the redskins is proving a promising sign that a deal is near. coach mike shanahan and the redskins staff are preparing for training camp to start on time later this month. coaches have been off for most of june but are expected to be back next monday to get ready for camp to start by july 28th. sources close to the negotiations say a deal could be done by the end of the week. the first lady is joining forces with the washington nationals to support military families. last night michelle obama took to the mound with some military children for the first pitch in the nationals game. several kids threw pitches and then took pictures with the first lady and some of the nats players. mrs. obama also joined several families who were recognized by the team and the fans during a third inning tribute of the military by the nats, and the home team did put on a show as well, beating the cubs 3-2.

it is now 6:18. today thousands of people are coming to d.c. to see the dalai lama. he is hosting a ten-day event where he'll offer spiritual teachings and meet with top u.s. lawmakers. kimberly suiters is live at the verizon center now where the festivities are set to begin in just a few hours. kimberly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. in those meetings with u.s. officials are expected to be low profile. unlike in years past, the dalai lama saying he wants to leave behind political life and really focus on spiritual life. it is kind of a fascinating and not an accidental choice he chooses the capital of the world's super power to do that right here at the verizon center. it all starts this morning at 9:30. the dalai lama expected to host about 100,000 people here in a ten-day period in a complex ritual of tibetan buddhism called the kalachakra. it's also going to double as a prayer service for world peace.

this is only the third time the event has been held in north america. people who plan to attend say they have very high expectations for a fulfilling experience. >> he's just an amazing, inspirational force and just -- it's such a privilege to be in his presence. >> to listen to him and take home something that was missing. >> reporter: now that service begins at 9:30 this morning. we haven't seen too many people buzzing around the verizon center quite yet. it is a little bit early. the dalai lama has a full week of events going on here. you do need a ticket to attend. the only event that is free is going to be on the national mall this saturday in the morning. but other than that, all the events inside, you have to go to ticketmast ticketmaster, or you've got to come here to the verizon center. it's about $35 for the day. almost $500 for the entire program.

if you can't get away, don't want to buy a ticket, you can also watch it online live in english or in chinese. it's a very modern dalai lama. reporting live at the verizon center, i'm kimberly suiters, news 4. now back to you in the studio. >> going to be a big ten days with hundreds of thousands of people in town to see the dalai lama. >> and it's going to be busy down there for sure. >> and hot and steamy. let's find out from tom kierein, what the next several days are going to be like. >> i'd better get used to it. it's july in washington. we don't have any showers on radar near washington. 75 miles south and west in the central shenandoah valley a few showers advancing to the north. there's the hazy sky over montgomery county. sort of a lilac haze. live picture from the skywatcher camera. near 80 during the midmorning. we'll have quite a bit of clouds

overhead. chance of storms developing later this afternoon and evening. there's a slight risk they will be severe mainly south of washington, and then tomorrow another hazy, hot, humid day. temperatures around 90 during the afternoon of the scattered afternoon and evening storms likely. could get some on friday as well as into friday night and into very early saturday morning. although it looks like it will be pretty much done for the rest of the weekend. saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday, still humid and hazy as well. danella, how's traffic? i do have congestion outer loop of the beltway in maryland just as you pass 95 and make your way towards georgia avenue, it's going to be a little slow for you right around colesville road. let's take a live look, and you can see your lanes are packed as you're traveling. you're still getting by. i want to show you this right now, new york avenue, you're slow from the washington times plant as you make your way towards bladensburg road. down 95 north of the occoquan, i am seeing some volume, 95 north. it's going to be pretty congested for you, stop and go, as you make your way towards the

beltway. another look at the rails. brunswick east trains number 872 and 890, now that delay is only five minutes. not so bad, huh? joe and eun, back to you. >> not too bad. thanks, danella. the new concerns this morning about nasa's final shuttle mission.

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"atlantis" is scheduled to liftoff at 11:26 friday morning. it's making one final supply run to the international space station. after landing, the shuttle will then head to a museum. prince william and kate have made a last minute change to their royal tour. today they'll meet with people affected by recent wildfires. the duke and duchess will head to slave lake in northern alberta to meet with firefighters and people whose homes were destroyed by wildfires. this leg of the trip was last minute because the couple wanted to make sure their visit would not interfere with recovery efforts. coming up next at 6:30, a mother in northern virginia is indicted on charges of felony murder after allegedly leaving her son in the hot car for seven hours. why prosecutors say there is more to this story. and take a look at this.

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this morning one alternate juror defends the decision. good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang. it is wednesday, july 6th, 2011. we're going to take a live look outside right now. it's just about 6:30. it's 77 degrees. it is steamy and muggy out there already. and once the sun burns through all the clouds, it's going to get hot out there today, tom. >> it's washington in the summer, eun. we do have the summer haze. the radar is scanning the sky. where we see the little blobs of color, those are showers in shenandoah valley, madison county getting a little shower drifting off to the north, maybe coming into rappahannock county shortly. farther to the south, other showers near charlottesville and south of there. temperatures all around the region low to mid-70s throughout much of the region.

77 at reagan national. we've got the steamy humidity with us. here's a live view of the sky from the skywatcher camera. on the right off in the distance, lots of the haze. southern loudoun county. on the left is northern fairfax county. you can barely make out tyson's corner there the lower left of your screen on this picture from our skywatcher camera. by 9:00, low 80s. we'll have it reaching near 90 and hovering around 90 through much of the afternoon. there is the possibility of some scattered thunderstorms developing late afternoon, perhaps early this evening. and there is just a small chance that an isolated storm would produce any wind damage or perhaps some hail. and that looks mainly to be to our south in virginia, perhaps parts of southern maryland late afternoon and early this evening. a look at the night planner in ten minutes. danella, how's traffic? first let's start out with the rails. metro, marc, and vre are running on or close to schedule. now the traffic. look at this 395 north of edsall road. 395 north is a pretty tough ride

right now. this is the perfect time that maybe you should grab two other passengers or whip out a motorcycle because look at this hov lane. it is completely clear. i wouldn't want to ride a motorcycle, but i might grab two friends, and i suggest you do. once you head over the 14th street bridge, you can see it's clear for you as you make your commute. and 270 at 109, you're congested as you make your way from urbana to clarksburg. once you get to clarksburg, it is a smooth commute for you. eun, back to you. >> danella, thank you. 6:32 now. tomorrow casey anthony will find out whether she'll are to spend more time behind bars, this after much of the nation watched on tv as her not guilty verdict was announced in court. you can see casey anthony holding back tears as the court clerk read the verdict. the jury acquitted anthony on the most serious charges of murder and child abuse. prosecutors accused her of suffocating her 2-year-old daughter caylee with duct tape.

so far only an alternate has spoken publicly about how the jury came to its decision. meanwhile, the prosecution is disappointed because it wasn'ted justice for caylee. >> the prosecution didn't meat their burden of proof. we had a lot of reasonable doubt there. >> we know the facts, and we put in absolutely every piece of evidence that existed. >> after the verdict, authorities escorted casey anthony back to jail. a judge could have released her at sentencing, could release her at sentencing, based on the three years she's already spent behind bars. and for weeks millions watched the wall to wall coverage of the trial against casey anthony outside the courtroom. many of the crowds seemed shocked and outraged after learning word of the verdict. >> got everything. how do you give her a verdict like that? >> we are just devastated. it's just unbelievable that somebody can get away with doing this to a little beautiful baby. >> anthony's parents released a statement saying, despite the baseless defense chosen by casey

anthony, the family believes that the jury made a fair decision based on the evidence. they also asked for privacy. joe? a virginia mother is expected to turn herself over to police later today after being charged with felony murder and child neglect. veterinarian karen murphy is accused of leaving her 2-year-old son ryan in the family vehicle for seven hours earlier this month on a day when temperatures reached 85 degrees. murphy did not discover the little boy until she returned home after her husband offend to tell her that the boy was not at daycare as expected. by that time, ryan had died. this was not the first time that she had forgotten her child in the car apparently. court documents show that she left her son in the car for 20 minutes in january in her work parking lot. murphy is expected to appear in court after turning herself in. a second man has been arrested in connection with the deadly shooting near the caribbean festival last month. 20-year-old deonte bryant is charged with second degree murder. investigators say he was one of

the gunmen involved in the shooting along gresham place ha that killed robert foster jr. and injured two innocent by standers. the fourth shooting victim, 19-year-old terry jimenez was also arrested and charged. police say the shooting was gang related. there are calls for prince george's county council member beverly johnson to immediately resign in the wake of federal corruption charges against her. she hded in a resignation letter to county counsel effective july 31st, which delays a special election to fill her seat. some say this does a disservice to members of the prince george's county. >> i think we should have the special election as quickly as possible, which means the resignation should be as quickly as possible. >> last week johnson pled guilty to destroying evidence when she destroyed money -- when she put -- tried to hide money that her husband former county executive jack johnson had, and then leslie johnson's sentencing is set for october 13th. 6:35 is our time. coming up at 7:00, the "today"

show. let's check in now with matt lauer to find out what they're working on for today. good morning, matt. >> hey, joe. good morning to you. coming up on a wednesday here on "today," we'll have complete coverage of what some are calling a stunning not guilty verdict of the casey anthony murder trial. this morning we'll talk exclusive to one of the lead prosecutors as well as one of the alternate jurors. plus did george and cindy anthony talk to their daughter after the verdict? and where does their family go from here? is their attorney will join us live. then casey anthony's ex-fiance who testified at the trial gives his reaction to the verdict in an exclusive live interview. we'll have that plus the latest stop on will and katherine's north american tour and some advice you can use, how to deal with one of the worst mosquito seasons in decades. we'll get started in just a couple of minutes on a wednesday edition of "today." joe and eun, back to you. >> take care. >> thanks. well, how metro is now stepping in to help prevent a looming traffic nightmare.

the big announcement from facebook today. mark zuckerberg says the social networking site is about to, quote, launch something awesome. consumers today have a legitimate concern about the chicken they eat.

they want to know more about how they were raised, what they were fed. we spend a lot of time on the feed because a chicken is what it eats. [ jim ] this seal verifies we feed my fresh all-natural chickens an all-vegetarian diet including corn, soybeans, and marigolds. we actually ask the usda to come check us. we have never fed steroids or hormones and never will. no blood meal, no meat and bone meal. yuck. no animal by-products. it means when you put my chicken on the table, you know where it came from.

these guys are now becoming famous just for having a good time. they call themselves the metro party boys. a number of videos that popped up on youtube during the last several days showing clapping and dancing on metro trains. look at them go. this shows them dancing on the green line after monday night's fireworks. the person who put the clip online said his friends wanted to make the ride fun for everybody. free show on metro. that would be fun. >> so much for that nap you wanted to catch or the book you wanted to read. >> they're going to end up on some show, i'm sure. >> they can have their own show. >> there you go. that's what youtube does. >> let's find out about the weather. tom kierein is in stormcenter 4.

golden sunrise over the potomac as we approach 6:41. picking up a few light showers, page county, madison county drifting to the north. farther to the south another area of light rain. temperatures around the rain are mild, and we are muggy. high humidity in place. temperatures near 70 in the suburbs and rural areas. mid-70s to upper 70s in washington. mid-70s by the bay. there is the hazy sky over virginia in the distance there. and by 9:00, we might have a few of these sprinkles come through the metro area. there's a chance of that. otherwise, a mostly cloudy morning, little sun in and out into the afternoon. we'll hover near 90 midafternoon to late afternoon. and late afternoon into early evening we could have a passing thunderstorm. might be severe, especially just south of washington. any storms around should dissipate by midevening. partly cloudy after that. a steamy forecast end of the week into the weekend. a look at that in ten minutes. here's a look at the traffic. danella? we have a long delay on the marc on the penn north line

train number 502. a long delay of 12 minutes for you at this time. look at this outer loop of the beltway in maryland, new hampshire avenue. it's going to be stop and go as you make your way towards georgia avenue. you know how that goes this time of morning. and also show you 66. 66 east you are slow from the bypass to the beltway. here's a look right now, again 395 north. you are having some congestion. once you make your way to the 14th street bridge, things open up for you, and it's a smoother ride. joe and eun, back to you. 6:42 now. 77 degrees. the 2012 presidential field is getting even more crowded. the northern virginia man now joining the race.

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metro's escalator problems seem to be getting worse. that's not the only thing going from bad to worse on the system. news 4's melissa mollet is live outside the foggy bottom metro station with more on the new report outlining metro's problems. good morning, melissa. >> reporter: good morning to you, joe. frustration over metro's woes with the escalator, with the elevator problems, with timeliness issues, of course, has been quite frustrating, very, very frustrating for a lot of riders. take a look behind me here at the foggy bottom station. only one of three escalators working this morning, and the service happening on this escalator behind me was supposed to be wrapped up a couple of days ago back at the end of june. now, this latest report shows that in the month of may more than 100 of the system's 588 escalators are not working. the monthly report looks at whether metro service is improving, deteriorating, or

remaining steady. it will be presented to the system's board of directors on thursday. metro is also worsening in other categories, bus and rail on time performance, and the customer injury rate, which is up slightly. it's the one thing that has increased, the number of inspections completed, up over 8% in april. the metro now assigning teams to the busiest stations. and fill the manager and supervisor positions as soon as possible. they say by the end of this month it will help with maintenance on the line. >> we've been meaning to hire more people or get on the ones that are already working there. you know, need to step up their game on it. they've got enough money to do it. >> reporter: now, according to this 36-page report, only 82% of the system's escalators were working properly in may, far lower than the 89%.

>> metro is trying to help ease the traffic problems in northeast virginia tomorrow. metro will propose running express bus service to the marc center in ft. belvoir. one would run to the marc center and to franconia springfield. thousands of people will move to the marc center next month as part of the base realignment and closure process. it's going to be tougher to hail a cab in alexandria. the city suspended 68 taxis from service for failing to have their annual vehicle inspections. that's about 10% of the fleet keving the city. taxicab operators were notified in january they had until june 30th to get their inspections. those who missed the deadline were allowed to continue providing service during the holiday weekend but are now prohibited from doing so. in decision 2012, apparently dozens of people are following their teacher's assertion that any u.s.-born citizen can run for president. 170 people have now filed

statements to run for president of the united states. including stafford resident craig ennis. he ran twice for the virginia house of delegates and once as a write-in candidate for congress. in the day ahead, president obama will hold a first of its kind twitter town hall. he will begin answering questions from the white house at 2:00 this afternoon. one of the perks of being president is that he will not have to limit his answers. the town hall will focus on jobs and the economy. you can send the president a tweet to @town hall using the hash tag -- that's a pound sign -- to ask obama. the president is no stranger to social media. he's held similar town halls on facebook and youtube. tomorrow the president will speak to lawmakers about the stalemate on the debt limit of the the president wants lawmakers to reach a deal within two weeks on raising the nation's borrowing limit. his plan includes cutting nearly $2.5 trillion from the budget and nearly $500 million in tax

hikes. republicans say a tax increase kills the deal. a new report out this morning shows that condominium sales in the area are at a new low. nicole lapin, anchor of cnbc's "worldwide exchange" joins us with more on the story. good morning, nicole. >> good morning to you, joe. sales of new condos in the d.c. area have stalled as building has slowed and new units are competing with cheaper resales. a new report says june sales fell 43%. there's still a silver lining. experts say a new wave of condos under development now, particularly near new metro station ins northern virginia should really kick start the market yet again. also with headlines this morning, verizon wireless is out with more details on limiting the amount of data their customers use on smart phones. starting tomorrow, the caps applied to new customers. you'll be able to choose between $30 a month for two gigs of

data, $50 a month for five gigs and $80 a month for ten gigs. if you go over that amount, it will cost you 10 additional dollars for every gigabyte. verizon says 90% of its customers actually use less than 2 gigs anyway. sprint is the only u.s. carrier to still offer unlimited data. what's behind door number two? facebook is making an announcement this afternoon. speculation is going to be an app for the ipad, a photo sharing app for the iphone, or maybe a video chat feature powered by skype. guys, last week ceo mark zuckerberg just said this. the company will launch something, quote, awesome. that's it. just awesome. >> maybe he's friending the winklevosses. we'll have to wait and see, nicole. thanks very much. have a great day. we're now following a developing story this morning in arizona. take a look at this. you can see a huge dust storm

move across the sky near phoenix. the storm closed the sky harbor airport for about an hour. drivers had to pull over on interstate 10 because they just couldn't see. the storm knocked out power lines leaving thousands in the dark. and air pollution is also a problem. i can only imagine how scary it would be to be trapped in your vehicle with something like that while you're driving. >> not to mention what it does to the automobile engine. the air conditioners in the homes and buildings. what it would do to the systems getting into the vents and everything. that would be awful. >> big mess to clean up as well. 6:51. weather and traffic on the ones right here. steamy, sticky out there, tom. >> not sweater weather. >> no, that's for sure. >> it's sweaty weather, though. as we have a lot of humidity around this morning. good morning. right now the radar picking up a few showers that are trying to hold together. they're now just coming right into western culpepper county across the culpepper county line now into rappahannock county, they're getting a few showers there. then on the west side of the

blue ridge in page county. these are advancing toward warren county. and farther to the south another area of light rain around charlottesville. this is heading off to the north-northeast. it may make it into the metro area perhaps in another couple of hours. right now near 70 degrees in the suburbs and rural areas most of the region. near the bay mid-70s and in washington mid-70s as well. out of the mountains, a bit cooler this morning, mid-60s, west virginia. we've had the winds shifting to the south-southwest bringing in the humidity. it's going to be with us as we get through the next several days. you can see it in the sky there over in washington off to the left. and off in the distance is anacostia. on the horizon to the right is arlington. we've got that thick summer haze all around the region and maybe a passing shower midmorning. otherwise quite a bit of cloudiness. during the afternoon, little sun in and out will hover near 90 much of the afternoon. there's a risk of thunderstorms developing late afternoon and early this evening. they could be severe just south of washington. any storms around will dissipate by late evening, and by dawn

tomorrow, mid-70s to low 70s. a hot humid day thursday and again on friday. a greater chance of maybe some afternoon and evening storms tomorrow, and then off and on during the day on friday and into friday night. saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday, though, should be settling down. only a slight chance of any storms around. hot and humid with highs near 90. check the weather 24/7 with weather channel on cable. traffic is thick. let's start out in maryland. in fact, beltway, as you're traveling from 95 and making your way towards georgia avenue, it is very slow. at cozil road, you're traveling at 30 miles an hour. it is stop and go. right now it's go just a little. exercise patience while you're traveling outer loop of the beltway in maryland. heading down 66 at centerville. 66 east, you're congested from as you approach the beltway and from the bypass really. i do see some kind of police activity in the shoulder lane. that has no impact on this traffic, but i want to make you

aware of it as you're passing route 29. here we are again, 395 north. this is at edsall. it is congested for you. once you reach the 14th street bridge, it is a smooth ride. joe, back to you. >> danella, thanks very much. thousands of people are in town, d.c., to see his holiness, the dalai lama. he's hosting a ten-day spiritual teaching event at the verizon center. that's where kimberly suiters is right now with more on where the festivities are set to begin in just a few hours. good morning, kimberly. >> reporter: good morning, joe. right at 5:30 it's a big event for the dalai lama. he turns 76 years old. more than 100,000 people are expected inside the verizon center for a peace festival and also a prayer service. this is going to be unprecedented for the verizon center. they're expecting 10,000 people a day to take part in a ten-day complex ritual in tibetan buddhism called kalachakra. it also doubles as a prayer

service for world peace. it's only the third time the event has been held in north america. you want to mark it down if you'red interested at all. the only free event is this saturday, july 9th. the dalai lama will give a talk on the west lawn of the national mall. there will be events all week long, and the closing ceremony held on the 16th. as for tickets, $35 a day. $475 for the whole program. you'll want to call ticketmaster or come get tickets here at the verizon center. i think what's interesting is the central message for those of us in the political power capital of the world, and this is the dalai lama's central message, all things are temporary, whether success, loss, grief, nothing lasts forever. reporting live at the verizon center, i'm kimberly suiters, news 4. joe, back to you in the studio. >> thanks very much, kimberly. 6:55. here are the morning's top stories. a judge scheduled a sentencing hearing tomorrow for casey

anthony. a jury found her guilty of lying to police but not guilty on the more serious murder charges. the florida mother was acquitted on murder and child abuse charges in the death of her 2-year-old daughter caylee. a virginia mother is expected to turn herself over to police. veterinarian karen murphy is accused of felony murder and child neglect after allegedly leaving her 2-year-old son in her minivan for seven hours in 80 degree heat causing his death. court documents also show she left her son in the car for 20 minutes back in january. police are hoping a new website will lead them to the murderer of christine mirzayan as she was sexually assaulted and beaten to death in 1998 in georgetown. they're hoping by posting a composite they'll have similar success to those hunting the east coast rapist. today the trial begins against former yankees pitcher ronler clemens. he is accused of lying to congress when he denied using performance enhancing drugs during his 23-season career.

>> let's get an out the door forecast with tom. radar showing a few showers 50 miles southwest of washington and more even further south of there. they're advancing to the north and east. may make it into the metro area in a couple of hours. otherwise, a greater chance of a few passing isolated storms this afternoon, again thursday and friday. eun and joe? >> thank you, tom. that is "news 4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next. we'll be back here tomorrow morning at 4:30.

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